Ask Secretary Clinton to help stop child marriage.

Ask Secretary of State Clinton to Help Stop Child Marriage

Child marriage is a global epidemic. A new UN report on child marriage — released on the first-ever International Day of the Girl on October 11 — paints a grim picture:

1 in 3 girls in developing countries are married before age 18.

1 in 9 girls are married before turning 15 years old.

Today, more than 67 million women ages 20-24 were married as girls.

And, every year, 14.2 million more girls are forced into marriage.

If we don’t stop the trend now, 142 million children will be married by 2020.

And that figure will grow to 151 million in the subsequent decade.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently unveiled public and private initiatives to stop early marriage and promote girls education. However, we are hoping the U.S. government will commit to doing even more to end this widespread human rights violation. Please ask Secretary Clinton to commit to increased political and financial investments to end child marriage and support girls who are already married.